Still, the gala’s unofficial theme, not apparent in the white roses and grilled branzino, was most definitely Wicked, in honor of the Prince Rainier III Award winner, Jon M. Chu. In a call ahead of the gala, the director—who rocketed to fame with Crazy Rich Asians before tackling the two-part Oz tale—explains how his 2001 Princess Grace Award funded an ambitious senior thesis, complete with a 20-piece orchestra, a choir, and dancers. The musical that resulted was the “thing that unlocked my whole career,” he says. Agents and managers saw it; Steven Spielberg did too. “When you are the recipient of generosity as a young artist, you don’t forget it because you need it so badly,” says Chu, who now sits on the foundation’s board of trustees.
Back in the ballroom, the musical theater veteran Jessica Vosk, who had a nearly yearlong run as Elphaba on Broadway, sang a medley from Wicked. The auctioneer peddled a pair of tickets to next month’s New York premiere of Wicked: For Good, with Chu sweetening the pot: “I will grab you by the hand on that carpet, and I will walk you to whoever we see and get you in there!” It sold for $55,000. Bowen Yang, who explained that Chu cast him in the Wicked films despite “bravely” forgoing an audition, was a presenter alongside the musical’s composer and lyricist, Stephen Schwartz. The costume designer Paul Tazewell, who earned a historic Oscar win for his work on Wicked, was there too.
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